PMJ. 

S,  KWE'., 


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Disciple 

lltllliilllllilllllllilllf’iillllllpimiillillliii 


X, 


SAMUEL  GUY  INMAN 

y\>  i , 1/  o 


Christian  Woman’s 
Board  of  Missions 

College  of  Missions  Building 

INDIANAPOLIS,  INDIANA 


* 


We 

Panama  Congress 

and  the 

dples  of  Christ 


■°y 


C \ 


Y Vi  I S i' 


Published  by  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of 
Missions,  College  of  Missions  Building,  Indianapolis, 
Indiana.  Price  5 cents  each;  50  cents  per  dozen. 

217 


THE  PANAMA  CONGRESS  AND  THE 
DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST. 


Samuel  Guy  Inman. 

Christianity  is  a world  religion.  It  bears 
the  burden  of  the  world  on  its  shoulders.  It 
carries  the  horizon  of  the  world  in  its  eyes. 
It  is  a good  shepherd  religion  and  its  heart 
can  find  no  rest  so  long  as  there  is  one  single 
sheep  out  of  the  fold.  As  it  goes  on  its  way 
it  picks  up  the  continents,  the  little  ones  and 
the  big  ones,  and  seeks  out  diligently  the 
islands  of  the  sea.  It  wishes  to  whisper  some- 
thing to  them.  It  wishes  to  tell  them  “God 
is  love.”  The  Congress  on  Christian  Work  in 
Latin  America,  which  was  held  at  Panama 
February,  1916,  is  a part  of  the  great  mission- 
ary strategy  which  Christianity  as  a world 
religion  has  been  developing  especially  dur- 
ing the  last  century.  It  has  been  my  priv- 
ilege for  the  last  two  years  to  be  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  two  leaders  who  more  than 
any  other  living  men  embody  the  idea  of  mis- 
sionary strategy,  Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer  and 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott,  and  to  sit  in  the  council  of 
those  great  interdenominational  and  interna- 
tional organizations  which  are  doing  most  to 
develop  for  the  missionary  enterprise  what 
the  French  call  in  the  present  war  “grand 
strategy” — that  is  a plan  which  takes  in  the 
whole  field  and  moves  unitedly  and  determin- 
edly to  accomplishment  of  one  supreme  object. 
3 


And  so  remarkably  lias  tliis  strategy  devel- 
oped that  at  the  present  time  no  foreign  mis- 
sionary society  dares  project  its  program  in 
any  field  without  taking  into  consideration 
what  other  like  agencies  are  doing,  and  what 
its  peculiar  contribution  can  be  to  that  one 
far  off  divine  event  to  which  the  whole  mis- 
sionary enterprise  moves.  Let  us  hope  that 
the  same  may  become  true  of  the  home  mission 
field. 

In  the  development  of  this  missionary  strat- 
egy, conferences,  such  as  the  one  held  at  Pan- 
ama, have  played  a large  part.  The  first  in- 
terdenominational missionary  conference  held 
at  the  home  base  met  in  New  York  in  1854. 
Like  conferences,  each  marking  an  advance, 
followed,  in  Liverpool  in  1860  and  in  London 
in  1878  and  1888.  The  great  Ecumenical  Con- 
ference was  held  in  New  York  ill  1900.  Fol- 
lowing this  was  the  World  Missionary  Confer- 
ence in  Edinburgh  in  1910,  which  marked  a 
great  advance  on  preceding  conferences,  es- 
pecially because  of  the  exhaustive  investiga- 
tions made  by  the  commissions,  which  showed 
as  never  before  the  demand  for  unity  in  the 
foreign  fields.  The  Chairman  of  the  Commis- 
sion on  Survey  said  that  without  increasing 
the  missionary  force  by  a single  man  the  work 
could  be  easily  doubled  by  uniting  the  present 
forces  in  the  field. 

Latin  America  as  a mission  field  was  not 
considered  at  Edinburgh.  However,  a little 
company  of  those  from  Latin  America,  who 
were  there  in  other  capacities,  met  together 
4 


several  times  and  with  tlie  encouragement  of 
a few  American  board  secretaries,  decided  that 
at  some  future  time  a meeting  should  be  held 
that  would  do  for  Latin  America  what  Edin- 
burgh did  for  the  Oriental  fields.  Four  years 
later  when  I was  starting  on  a trip  for  my 
own  board  through  Latin  America,  I was  re- 
quested to  consult  with  the  missionaries  as  to 
the  advisability  of  having  such  a conference, 
and  the  time,  place  and  character  of  the  meet- 
ing. On  rendering  my  report  when  I re- 
turned, a representative  committee  of  the 
boards  decided  to  have  the  conference  at  Pan- 
ama, February  10-20,  1916. 

The  preparation  for  the  congress  required 
more  than  a year’s  work.  The  eight  commis- 
sion reports  which  form  the  most  exhaustive 
studies  of  Latin-American  life  ever  made, 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  everyone  desiring  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  subject.  These  re- 
ports pointed  out  with  such  scientific  accuracy 
the  need  of  uniting  the  forces  that  the  repre- 
sentatives present  from  twenty-two  nations 
and  fifty  denominational  organizations  spent 
most  of  the  ten  days  in  studying  how  this  co- 
operative program  should  be  put  into  effect. 

As  a result  there  was  organized  what  many 
consider  the  most  effective  co-operative  move- 
ment, taking  in  both  the  missionary  boards  at 
home  and  the  forces  on  the  field,  that  has  been 
developed  in  the  history  of  missions.  Besides 
the  central  Committee  on  Co-operation  in 
Latin  America,  composed  of  a representation 
of  thirty  Mission  Boards  doing  work  in  Latin 
5 


America,  there  was  organized  by  the  Regional 
Conferences  following  Panama  a Co-operative 
Committee  in  every  center  in  Latin  America, 
so  that  from  the  central  office  in  New  York 
there  extends  a perfect  chain  connecting  each 
Mission  Board  with  every  other  one  and  with 
every  worker  in  every  part  of  Latin  America. 
By  February,  1917,  it  is  expected  that  the  home 
end  of  the  problem  will  be  far  enough  worked 
out  for  the  Executive  Secretary  to  take  a six 
months’  trip  through  South  America  to  co-or- 
dinate the  forces  in  the  field. 

Besides  the  matter  of  Christian  Union,  the 
Panama  Congress  faced  two  other  tremen- 
dously impelling  situations.  The  first  one  was 
the  immensity  of  the  task  of  evangelizing 
Latin  America.  Think  of  the  mere  physical 
size  of  the  field ! 

Beginning  at  the  Rio  Grande  and  stretching 
on  down  through  Mexico  and  across  the  rich 
fruit  belt  of  Central  America,  through  the 
West  Indies,  across  Panama  and  down  through 
Venezuela,  Colombia,  Peru,  Brazil  and  on 
through  the  abounding  plains  of  Argentina  to 
the  Strait  of  Magellan  there  is  the  largest 
stretch  of  undeveloped,  fertile  land  in  the  en- 
tire world.  While  the  nations  of  Europe  pro- 
fess to  be  fighting  for  a place  under  the  sun, 
in  Latin  America  there  is  room  for  the  popu- 
lation of  the  entire  globe  without  being  more 
than  one-third  as  crowded  as  are  today  the 
people  of  the  little  island  of  Porto  Rico. 

Just  one  of  these  twenty  republics,  Brazil, 
is  larger  than  the  whole  of  the  United  States. 

6 


Argentina  is  larger  than  the  United  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  plus  the  first  tier  of 
states  to  the  west.  Out  of  seven  hundred  fifty- 
eight  million  acres  of  tillable  land  in  Argen- 
tina, only  fifty  million  acres  are  now  being 
cultivated.  There  is  more  undiscovered  terri- 
tory in  Brazil  than  there  is  in  the  whole  con- 
tinent vf  Africa.  No  one  who  visits  these 
lands  can  doubt  the  truth  of  the  saying  of 
keen  prophets  that  just  as  the  most  remark- 
able developments  of  the  nineteenth  century 
took  place  in  North  America,  so  the  most  re- 
markable developments  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury are  to  take  place  in  Latin  America. 
Cities  like  Buenos  Aires,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  San- 
tiago, Havana  and  Mexico  are  among  the  most 
beautiful  of  the  entire  world.  Buenos  Aires, 
the  third  largest  city  on  the  American  conti- 
nent, has  the  finest  theater  building  in  the 
world,  the  largest  newspaper  building  in  the 
world,  the  finest  jockey  club  in  the  world  and 
a municipal  organization  which  is  the  won- 
der of  all  who  study  it.  Here  the  problems  of 
the  city  beautiful  have  been  solved  in  a re- 
markable way.  No  cost  is  too  great  for  the 
building  of  a park,  the  cutting  of  a new  street, 
the  erection  of  a new  municipal  palace  or 
whatever  else  is  found  necessary  to  remove 
ugliness  and  create  charm. 

The  beauty  of  her  cities  and  the  material  re- 
sources of  her  mountains  and  plains  make 
Latin  America  the  wonder  of  the  world.  But 
when  we  turn  to  her  inner  life,  what  do  we 
find?  In  practically  every  one  of  these  great 
7 


cities  tlie  educated  classes  either  have  turned 
in  violent  opposition  to  the  church  of  their 
fathers,  or  have  grown  so  indifferent  that  it 
has  no  influence  upon  their  lives.  You  speak 
to  men  who  are  leaders  in  philanthropic  and 
educational  enterprises  about  religion  and 
they  will  say:  “What!  Religion?  That  is  the 
thing  above  all  things  for  which  we  have  no 
use.  Religion'  has  been  the  cause  of  our  rev- 
olutions; religion  has  opposed  our  progress; 
on  account  of  religion  from  fifty  to  eighty  per 
cent  of  our  people  are  unable  to  read  and 
write.  In  the  name  of  progress,  deliver  us 
from  religion.”  In  this  wonderful  city  of 
Buenos  Aires,  there  are  not  one  hundred 
churches  of  all  kinds,  Protestant,  Catholic, 
Jewish  and  Mohammedan.  There  are  some 
fifty  Catholic  churches  in  this  city,  where  Ro- 
man Catholicism  is  the  state  religion.  As  for 
Protestant  churches  with  services  in  the  lan- 
guages of  the  people,  there  is  not  a baker’s 
dozen,  counting  our  own  little  chapel  in  the 
suburbs,  which  seats  barely  a hundred  people. 
That  means  one  evangelical  church  for  about 
every  one  hundred  twenty-five  thousand  peo- 
ple, and  one  place  of  worship  of  any  kind, 
Christian  or  heathen,  for  every  seventeen 
thousand  people.  There  is  probably  no  city 
in  the  world,  including  those  of  the  Orient, 
that  is  so  neglected  religiously.  In  the  capital 
city  of  Paraguay,  Asuncion,  there  are  posters 
on  the  street  corners  saying:  “Abcijo  con  la 
Religion ” (“Down  with  Religion”).  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  this  lack  and  often  hate 
8 


of  religion  is  bringing  results  which  can  be 
seen  in  every  department  of  Latin- American 
life. 

Over  against  these  conditions  which  show 
that  these  neighbors  of  ours  are  fast  becom- 
ing a people  without  a religion,  there  was 
placed  before  us  at  Panama  the  harrowing 
picture  of  the  paucity  of  effort  being  made  by 
evangelical  Christianity  to  stem  this  tide 
which  threatens  to  sweep  a whole  continent 
away  from  the  moorings  of  a Christian  faith. 
Let  us  glance  at  the  map  of  evangelical  activ- 
ities in  these  twenty  republics.  In  Mexico 
there  are  fourteen  out  of  twenty-seven  states 
without  a foreign  missionary,  and  in  some 
others  only  one  to  a million  of  the  population. 
In  three  of  the  five  republics  of  Central  Amer- 
ica there  is  no  organized  Mission  Board  doing 
work.  In  four  of  them  we  do  not  sustain  even 
a primary  school.  In  all  five  republics  there 
are  only  ten  small  evangelical  church  build- 
ings. 

When  one  goes  down  to  Panama  and  sees 
that  marvelous  work  whereby  the  United 
States,  by  the  spending  of  four  hundred  mil- 
lions of  dollars  has  carried  out  the  dream  of 
the  ages  and  united  the  world’s  two  greatest 
oceans,  he  goes  away  a living,  breathing 
Fourth  of  July.  And  yet  in,  this  little  repub- 
lic which  owes  its  very  existence  to  Christian 
United  States,  there  is  only  one  evangelical 
missionary  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  their  own 
tongue  to  its  four  hundred  thousand  inhabi- 
tants. 


9 


There  are  four  ordained  missionaries  in  the 
republic  of  Venezuela  with  a population  of 
nearly  three  million  people.  To  educate  the 
eighty-five  per  cent  of  her  population  who 
cannot  read  and  write,  we  are  supporting  two 
little  primary  schools  with  an  enrollment  of 
eighty-eight  children.  In  the  whole  history  of 
this  republic  there  has  never  been  but  one 
building,  a military  academy,  erected  for 
school  purposes. 

For  Colombia  there  was  reported  at  Panama 
only  one  ordained  missionary  to  every  million 
of  the  population.  There  has  never  been 
erected  a Protestant  church  building  in  Co- 
lombia. 

In  the  republic  of  Ecuador  there  is  not  one 
organized  Mission  Board  doing  work. 

In  the  northern  half  of  Peru,  a stretch  of 
territory  larger  than  our  thirteen  original  col- 
onies, there  is  not  one  evangelical  missionary. 
There  are  ten  provinces  in  this  historic  re- 
public, all  larger  than  Holland,  where  there  is 
absolutely  no  evangelical  work. 

In  Bolivia  there  have  scarcely  been  won  so 
far  one  hundred  members  to  the  evangelical 
church.  Great  stretches  of  territory  in  Chile 
and  Argentina  are  unoccupied.  Only  the 
fringes  along  the  ocean  and  river  fronts  of 
Uruguay  and  Brazil  are  occupied.  There  is 
not  one  American  Missionary  Society  at  work 
in  the  whole  republic  of  Paraguay.  Place 
yourself  on  the  boundary  line  between  Para- 
guay and  Brazil  and  look  north  for  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  miles,  turn  gradually  to  the 
10 


northwest  until  you  can  see  two  thousand 
miles;  shorten  by  degrees  your  vision  until 
you  are  looking  due  west  for  five  hundred 
miles,  and  you  will  not  find  one  lone  evangel- 
ical missionary  and  probably  not  a dozen 
Catholic  missionaries  in  all  that  vast  stretch 
of  country. 

The  awful  facts  of  this  appalling  neglect 
were  what  broke  our  hearts  at  Panama.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  teeming  riches,  the  ma- 
terial prosperity,  the  assured  promise  of  a 
wonderful  future,  and  above  all  the  insistent 
invitation  of  many  of  the  best  known  leaders 
of  Latin  America,  who  believe  as  Juarez  that 
the  future  of  their  nation  is  wrapped  up  in 
evangelical  Christianity,  led  the  congress  to 
project  a great  united  program  to  give  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  to  these  lands. 

What  part  will  the  Disciples  of  Christ  have 
in  the  enlarged  program?  Leaving  to  your 
own  consciences  the  appeal  of  our  Christ  on 
the  cross  dying  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and 
the  appeal  of  the  awful  need  of  Latin  America, 
let  me  point  out  a few  other  reasons  which 
stress  the  fact  that  the  part  of  the  Disciples 
of  Christ  should  be  very  large. 

In  the  first  place  our  brethren  of  the  other 
churches  expect  it  of  us.  For  the  first  time  in 
the  history  of  interdenominational  gatherings, 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  had  a prominent  part 
in  the  preparation  and  program  of  the  Pan- 
ama Congress.  This  is  encouraging  others  to 
a belief  that  we  are  in  earnest  in  our  desire 
for  Christian  Union,  and  that  we  are  really 
11 


becoming  a Bible  people,  willing  to  take  our 
proper  share  in  giving  this  Book  to  all  who 
have  it  not.  The  Interdenominational  Com- 
mittee on  Co-operation  passed  a special  reso- 
lution at  Panama  inviting  us  to  take  a large 
share  in  Latin-American  evangelization.  As 
executive  secretary  of  this  committee  I bring 
you  officially  this  invitation.  In  considering 
it  we  should  remember  that  the  imperative 
needs  are  forcing  every  Board  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica to  enlarge,  and  that  we,  the  sixth  in 
strength,  are  thirteenth  in  our  contribution  to 
Latin-American  missions.  This  should  not  be, 
when  such  a Christian  statesman  as  Dr.  John 
R.  Mott  took  time  in  the  great  presure  of  en- 
gagements at  Panama  to  appear  before  our 
delegation  and  urge  that  we  enlarge  our  work 
in  Latin  America  because  he  believed  that 
our  simple  presentation  of  the  Gospel  is  pe- 
culiarly adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  Latin- 
American  people. 

Again,  while  we  are  by  no  means  adequately 
occupying  them,  God  has  placed  us  in  fields  in 
Latin  America  that  are  among  the  most  stra- 
tegic centers  possible  to  be  found.  In  Mexico 
our  missions  are  located  in  the  two  progres- 
sive border  states  of  Coahuila  and  Nuevo 
Leon,  from  which  have  come  a large  majority 
of  the  leaders  of  the  present  democratic  move- 
ment. Any  number  of  the  pupils  of  our 
schools  and  admiring  observers  of  our  work 
are  now  occupying  prominent  places  in  the 
Mexican  government.  The  Southern  Presby- 
terian church  is  now  petitioning  us  to  take 
12 


over  their  work  in  Tamaulipas,  another  one 
of  these  rich,  progressive  border  states.  For 
many  years  these  northern  states  will  occupy 
a predominant  place  in  Mexico’s  life. 

The  strategic  position  of  Porto  Rico,  our 
second  field,  has  been  emphasized  lately  by  the 
proposed  purchase  by  our  government  of  three 
other  islands  close  to  it  because  of  their  im- 
portant position  in  reference  to  the  Panama 
Canal.  Porto  Rico,  though  small,  is  the  one 
country  in  all  of  Latin  America  which  fur- 
nishes a laboratory  for  the  working  out  of  the 
political,  educational  and  social  relationship 
of  Anglo-Saxons  and  Latins.  Her  school  sys- 
tem is  so  remarkably  developed  that  the  Re- 
public of  Venezuela  has  recently  requested 
that  two  hundred  of  her  school  teachers-  be 
sent  to  Venezuela  to  lead  in  the  organization 
of  her  educational  system. 

Buenos  Aires,  our  third  center,  is  the  larg- 
est city  in  all  Latin  America,  the  second  city 
in  the  Latin  World.  It  is  to  South  America 
what  New  York  and  Washington  combined  are 
to  North  America,  and  what  London  and  Paris 
are  to  Europe.  We  can  not  boast  of  the  very 
small  station  that  we  have  at  present  in  the 
suburbs  of  this  great  city;  but  the  point  is 
that  we  are  located  there  with  plans  to  build 
a great  institute  in  the  city,  and  project  our 
work  into  the  rich  provinces  of  Entre  Rios, 
Corrientes  and  Misiones,  and  the  Republic  of 
Paraguay.  By  the  proper  development  of 
these  three  fields  of  northern  Mexico,  Porto 
Rico  and  Argentina,  we  shall  show  that  mis- 
13 


sionary  strategy  that  led  the  Apostle  Paul  to 
emphasize  the  work  in  Antioch,  Ephesus  and 
Rome. 

Then,  the  Disciples  of  Christ  should  have  a 
large  influence  in  Latin  America,  because  it 
looks  now  as  though  the  problems  of  Christian 
union  were  going  to  be  worked  out  more  rap- 
idly in  these  fields  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world.  Already  a number  of  laboratories 
— conspicuously  the  one  in  Porto  Rico — are 
experimenting  on  this,  the  greatest  problem 
of  Christendom.  No  doubt  many  mistakes 
will  be  made;  many  experiments  must  be  tried 
out  before  the  goal  of  our  Lord  is  reached. 
Certainly  after  pleading  for  this  union  for  a 
hundred  years  the  Disciples  of  Christ  should 
be  foremost  in  influence  in  these  fields,  where 
there  seem  to  be  fewer  obstacles  to  its  attain- 
ment than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

Another  reason  why  the  Disciples  of  Christ 
should  have  a large  work  in  Latin  America  is 
that  by  God’s  leadership  we  have  already 
made  a marked  contribution  to  the  strategy 
of  missions  by  discovering  the  means  of  reach- 
ing the  upper  classes  and  influencing  the  com- 
munity life  of  these  people.  When  we  saw 
the  present  revolution  in  Mexico  coming,  we 
asked  ourselves  what  message  the  evangelical 
church  had  to  speak  to  the  Mexican  people  at 
such  a crisis.  We  were  forced  to  realize  that 
while  our  work  had  been  well  done  among  in- 
dividuals, principally  among  the  uneducated 
classes,  the  Church  of  Christ  had  no  means  of 
speaking  to  Mexico  as  a whole. 

14 


In  order  that  the  community  as  a unit 
might  receive  the  impact  of  our  Christianity, 
and  appreciate  the  social  and  political,  as  well 
as  the  theological  significance  of  the  teachings 
of  Jesus,  the  People’s  Institute  at  Piedras 
Negras  was  organized.  It  was  frankly  under- 
taken as  an  experiment,  but  its  five  years  of 
successful  operation  during  a period  when 
much  of  the  other  mission  work  had  to  be 
closed,  has  demonstrated  beyond  question  the 
great  opportunities  for  planting  similar  work 
in  all  parts  of  Latin  America.  The  unique- 
ness of  the  institute  does  not  consist  so  much 
in  its  methods  of  service — such  as  night 
classes,  circulating  libraries,  out-door  gym- 
nasium, cooking  classes,  community  debating 
clubs,  lectures  on  social,  educational  and  re- 
ligious themes,  and  such  things.  It  consists 
rather  in  the  persistent  insistence  that  this 
movement  is  of,  for  and  by  the  people.  It  was 
because  the  institute  said  to  the  people,  “We 
are  here  to  help  you  solve  your  problems,  to 
lose  ourselves  in  your  life  and  your  struggles,” 
instead  of  saying,  “We  are  here  to  ask  you  to 
help  us  build  up  an  organization  which  we, 
as  foreigners,  have  found  to  be  the  saving 
quality  in  our  own  nation’s  life,”  that  the 
work  became  known  and  loved,  to  a remark- 
able degree  by  its  own  community.  The  state 
contributed  $100  per  month  toward  its  sup- 
port, and  President  Madero  summoned  its  di- 
rector to  the  national  palace  to  discuss  plans 
for  its  enlargement. 

And  yet  the  home  church  so  slightly  regards 

15 


this  work  that  this  institute  has  been  without 
a director  for  the  last  two  years,  because  it  has 
been  impossible  to  find  the  man  of  caliber  and 
consecration  to  lead  it.  Here  is  a position  that 
gives  one  a chance  to  rub  elbows  with  presi- 
dents, to  advise  with  governors,  to  assist  super- 
intendents of  schools  to  outline  educational 
systems — a position  big  enough  to  challenge 
any  man,  whether  he  be  college  president,  sec- 
retary of  a great  missionary  society,  pastor  of 
one  of  our  great  churches  or  the  director  of  a 
great  social  movement.  Hoav  long  will  the 
leaders  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ  let  this 
position  go  unfilled  and  hinder  the  organiza- 
tion of  other  such  institutions  because  of  the 
lack  of  men  and  money  to  develop  them? 

The  Mexican  Question! 

The  United  States  has  been  distracted  be- 
yond measure  for  the  last  five  years  with  it. 
And  that  distraction  will  continue  until  we 
get  sense  enough  to  realize  that  it  is  not  the 
question  of  stopping  a fight,  but  the  matter  of 
solving  a problem.  It  makes  one  sick  to  hear 
the  irresponsible  talk  about  the  matter  being 
settled  by  the  capture  of  Villa,  the  elimination 
of  Carranza,  intervention  by  our  soldiers  or  the 
election  of  a president  with  an  iron  hand, 
either  in  Mexico  or  the  United  States!  Let 
us  stop  fooling  ourselves  with  the  fond  hope 
that  some  morning  we  will  wake  up  to  find  the 
papers  announcing  that  by  some  shuffling  of 
the  cards  the  Mexican  problem  has  been  solved. 
Mexico  is  endeavoring  to  change  from  sixteenth 
century  to  twentieth  century  conditions.  It  is 
16 


not  the  case  of  a revolution  that  must  be 
squelched,  but  an  evolution  that  must  be  guid- 
ed. We  might  as  well  settle  down  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  problem  of  slowly  changing  a 
nation  into  the  image  of  God — a God  whose 
very  name  is  unknown  to  one-fifth  of  the  popu- 
lation and  whose  Book  can  not  be  read  by  four- 
fifths  of  its  people.  The  Mexican  people  are 
not  to  blame  for  the  chaotic  condition  of  their 
country.  I challenge  you  to  tell  me  what 
nation  under  the  sun  has  ever  developed  a real 
democracy  without  having  had  preached  and 
ground  into  its  life  the  principles  of  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount.  I repeat  that  we  may 
expect  no  permanent  settlement  of  the  Mexican 
problem  until  her  people  have  been  imbued 
with  the  democratic  teachings  of  Jesus.  But 
you  say  this  is  the  word  of  a missionary  enthu- 
siast. Let  me  then  give  you  the  word  of  an- 
other : 

Sitting  in  the  reception  room  of  the  People’s 
Institute  after  having  examined  its  work,  then 
Governor  now  President  Carranza,  said  that  if 
there  were  twenty-five  such  institutions  scat- 
tered over  Mexico  the  problem  of  revolution 
would  soon  be  solved.  And  that  sentiment  has 
been  echoed  by  hundred  Mexicans  who  care 
little  for  the  propaganda  of  a foreign  religion, 
but  who  recognized  the  saving  power  of  a Gos- 
pel such  as  is  there  exemplified. 

There  would  be  no  Mexican  problem  today  if 
the  United  States  had  displayed  the  same  inter- 
est in  the  development  of  Mexico’s  soul  as  we 
have  in  the  exploiting  of  her  natural  resources. 
17 


American  capital  has  invested  $1,000,000,000 
in  Mexico.  Protestant  missionary  forces  have 
invested  in  her  property  about  $2,000,000,  or 
one  five -hundredth  of  the  former  sum.  Before 
the  present  revolution  an  official  of  the  Gug- 
genheim corporation  told  me  that  they  and 
allied  interests  had  dependent  upon  them  for 
support  one  million  Mexicans — one  out  of 
every  fifteen  of  the  population.  At  that  same 
time  the  evangelical  churches  of  the  whole 
world  had  dependent  upon  them  the  support  of 
two  hundred  ordained  ministers,  including  both 
foreigners  and  Mexicans,  or  one  to  every  sev- 
enty-five thousand  of  the  population.  For  the 
Christianizing  of  the  three  million  Indians, 
many  of  whom  have  recently  been  taking  part 
in  raids  on  our  border,  Protestant  Christianity 
is  not  sustaining  one  lone  worker.  Yet  the 
United  States  has  assigned  to  pay  for  the  pres- 
ent troop  movements  to  protect  our  border  the 
sum  of  $130,000,000.  This  amount  is  too  tre- 
mendous for  us  to  grasp;  but  listen  to  me  and 
I will  tell  you  how  far  it  would  go  toward  the 
real  solution  of  the  Mexican  problem.  It  would 
place  in  every  town  and  city  of  Mexico  with 
more  than  four  thousand  people  a People’s 
Institute,  a college,  a hospital  and  a church,  all 
magnificently  equipped,  and  sustain  an  ample 
corps  of  workers  in  all  these  institutions  for  a 
period  of  ten  years;  and  over  and  above  this  it 
would  enable  us  to  endow  the  public  school 
funds  of  each  of  these  municipalities  with  the 
sum  of  $750,000,  the  annual  interest  of  6 per 
cent,  on  which  would  be  more  than  the  Mexi- 
18 


can  government  has  ever  paid  for  education  in 
any  single  year  of  its  history. 

These  figures  apply  to  the  whole  nation.  Let 
us  bring  them  closer  home.  The  Disciples  of 
Christ,  granting  that  they  represent  a good 
average  type  of  American  citizen,  have  them- 
selves paid  for  the  troop  movement  to  Mexico 
this  year  the  sum  of  $6,000,000 — that  is  the 
amount  that  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement 
is  asking  these  same  people  to  give  in  five  years 
for  all  our  educational  and  missionary  enter- 
prises in  Mexico,  the  United  States  and  all 
other  parts  of  the  world.  Do  not  be  deceived; 
you  have  paid  this  money.  Because  it  lias 
come  through  taxes  and  tariffs  and  ingenious 
levyings,  through  increased  cost  of  living,  and 
not  through  direct  appeal  from  pastor  and  mis- 
sionary secretary  for  lump  subscriptions,  the 
extraction  has  been  more  of  the  painless  kind. 
But  you  have  paid  it  just  as  surely  as  you 
have  paid  your  missionary  subscriptions. 

Yet  in  our  opulence  we  have  not  felt  it.  Dur- 
ing the  last  two  years  the  wealth  of  the  United 
States  of  America  has  increased  $40,000,000,- 
000.  That  means  an  average  increase  of  capital 
of  $400  each  for  every  man,  woman  and  child 
in  this  country.  The  present  unbounding  pros- 
perity of  this  nation  brings  it  face  to  face  with 
the  most  awful  peril  of  its  history.  While 
other  nations  are  stretched  on  a Calvary  cross, 
shedding  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  for  what 
they  believe  is  right,  we  wax  fat  and  sleep  and 
live  in  such  luxury  and  extravagance  that  we 
are  a stench  in  the  nostrils  of  all  who  suffer. 


19 


Because  of  the  European  war  this  nation  today 
practically  holds  a mortgage  on  the  world 
financially.  But  the  world  holds  a mortgage 
on  our  soul.  God  pity  us  and  save  us! 

“God  of  our  fathers,  known  of  old, 

Lord  of  our  far-flung  battle  line, 
Beneath  whose  awful  hand  we  hold 
Dominion  over  palm  and  pine — 

Lord  God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet, 

Lest  we  forget — Lest  we  forget!” 


20 


